TIL Desk/World/Indonesia-Indian national Gurdip Singh, who was to be executed last night on drug charges in Indonesia, has not been put to death, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. “Indian Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that Gurdip Singh whose execution was fixed for last night, has not been executed,” Swaraj said on twitter. However, it was not clear why the Indian was not executed while four other convicts were put to death by the firing squad.
48-year-old Singh was among 10 convicts who were to be executed but were not put to death. He was found guilty by an Indonesian court of trying to smuggle in 300 grams of heroin and was handed death penalty in 2005. MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had yesterday said that Indian Embassy officials in Jakarta were reaching out to the Indonesian foreign office and the senior leadership of the country on the issue. Swaraj had said government was making last minute efforts to save Singh.
“Afdhal Muhammad, the legal representative of Singh was of the view that he can file for Presidential clemency under the relevant law before the President of Indonesia. The Embassy sent a Note Verbale to Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry requesting that all legal recourse should be exhausted before the death penalty is carried out,” Swarup said.
